Aaron Donald voted Pro Football Writers DPOY

[jap]

Donald probably clinched it when they saw what our defense is without him against Green Bay

I still cannot believe that Russell's behind turned about to be The Terminator's green kryptonite!

 

[CGI_Ram]

Ranking the NFL's non-quarterback MVPs: Can anyone top Aaron Donald?

Quarterbacks always win MVP (and rightfully so). But what about the receivers, running backs, defensive backs and pass-rushers? Here are our top 10 non-QB MVP candidates.

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Who is the non-quarterback NFL MVP 2020? Top 10 candidates, including Aaron Donald, Davante Adams, more

Donald dominates his position in a way that no other player who is a candidate for this award does (sorry, Justin Tucker). He's not a defensive tackle. He's an Aaron Donald. Lumping him with other defensive tackles just makes every other player at the position look like some variation of mediocre. Seriously, take a look!



View: https://twitter.com/sethwalder/status/1350481704193060871?s=21

Donald was double-teamed when pass rushing as a defensive tackle more often than anyone else, and yet he also recorded pass rush wins at a higher rate than anyone else. While better players are probably double-teamed more often than worse ones, all else being equal, more double-teams should drive pass rush win rate down. To finish No. 1 at the position in those two categories puts him on another planet compared to everyone else.

And though Donald's 13.5 sacks in 2020 trailed Pittsburgh's T.J. Watt by half a sack, he led the league in sacks created -- where we credit a sack to the player who first beats his blocker rather than the player who finishes the play -- with 19, 2.5 clear of any other player.

After our run stop win rate infamously gave Donald a mediocre rating in 2019, I feel obliged to note that the Rams star performed well in the metric in 2020, finishing 16th out of 71 defensive tackle qualifiers. But relative to the pass game, that's small potatoes. Donald's pass rushing so far exceeded other players at the position that it alone earned him the non-QB MVP.